Today, we are happy to be hosting the cover reveal for Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner’s upcoming YA science fiction novel, These Broken Stars! We loved Meagan’s debut novel, Skylark, and as science fiction fans (especially YA SF) have had These Broken Stars on our radar forever. We were thrilled when we were asked to participate on the official cover reveal.

Behold! The Smugglerific Cover (and summary)!

THE SMUGGLERIFIC COVER:

ABOUT THE BOOK:

It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

The first in a sweeping science fiction trilogy, These Broken Stars is a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.

“Absolutely brilliant. This is the sci fi I’ve been waiting for! Action, romance, twists and turns–this book has it all!” – New York Times bestselling author of Across The Universe, Beth Revis

These Broken Stars is published by Disney-Hyperion, and will be released on December 10, 2013.

Meg: It’s funny, authors usually get so little say in what their covers look like, and sometimes they end up really disappointed by the end result. But luckily we’re in the enviable position of being able to be honest and open AND totally excited, because we love our cover!

Amie: Oh man, do we love our cover. Our publisher was so consultative, and that meant I got to sit around one day eating popcorn and picking out pictures of handsome boys so they’d have a good idea of what Tarver looked like. Hard work, but somebody had to do it.

Meg: Yeah, we sent them a lot of reference pictures–for Lilac, it was a lot of pictures of gorgeous redheads like Molly Quinn and Amy Adams. When I finally saw the model they’d chosen for Lilac, I flipped out because it was DEAD on.

Amie: And her dress, seriously. Our amazing cover designer, Whitney Manger, had it custom-made for the shoot. We couldn’t believe it when we saw. (And yes, she does get shipwrecked in a ballgown. It’s not super practical.)

Meg: I think my favorite thing about it is that it’s clearly both science fiction AND romance. That’s a hard thing to accomplish with one image. The way they’re reaching for each other is so appropriate for the book, because they’re the only survivors of their shipwreck–they have to rely on each other to survive.

Amie: Absolutely. It’s a haunting, slightly creepy and ultimately beautiful image, and that’s definitely the experience Lilac and Tarver have on their unknown planet together. It’s the perfect cover!

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner are longtime friends and sometime flatmates who have traveled the world (but not yet the galaxy), covering every continent between them. They are sure outer space is only a matter of time. Meagan, who is also the author of the SKYLARK trilogy, currently lives just outside DC, while Amie lives in Melbourne, Australia. Although they currently live apart, they are united by their love of space opera, road trips, and second breakfasts.

Want more chances to win an ARC of These Broken Stars? Each of the following blogs have an ARC to give away, and more exclusive content!

Cuddlebuggery: See what the cover COULD have looked like, plus a live interview with Amie and Meg!The Midnight Garden: Where did the title come from?Pub(lishing) Crawl: Check out this exclusive interview from cover designer Whitney Manger!Mundie Moms: Want to know more about the characters on the cover? Click for more about Lilac!Supernatural Snark: Want to know more about the characters on the cover? Click for more about Tarver!

THE GIVEAWAY:

We are giving away one ARC of These Broken Stars to a lucky winner! The giveaway is open to US addresses and will run until Sunday March 3 2013 at 12:01 AM (EST). To enter, use the form below. Good luck!

Related

About Thea

Thea James is half of the maniacal book review duo behind The Book Smugglers. By day, she does digital operations things over at Workman Publishing. By night, she watches an abundance of horror movies, stays up too late, and voraciously devours ALL THE SFF.

I’ve often wondered why there isn’t more YA SF, when YA fantasy is so popular and prevalent. I’ll be keeping an eye out for this book! And I really enjoyed reading about the cover design and the input the authors were able to have on it.

Ahh, that is such a hard choice! Okay, I am going to go with The Chaos Walking trilogy because they were so different and completely sucked me in and then left me crying and wishing I could experience it all over again.

I’m going to go with Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi and Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill since no one else has mentioned them yet (although I love all the others up there). I hope this is the beginning of a YA scifi boom.

Favorite Science Fiction YA…I can’t say that is a genre I read a whole ton of (which seems to be a trend here…) but if I had to choose a favorite I would go with The Chaos Walking Trilogy, or the Maze Runner

Hmmm….I think Ender’s Game is at the top of that list. The tricky thing is, with a lot of books I read I don’t know if they would count as Sci Fi…but I know Ender’s Game counts, and that one is REALLY good.

The cover looks amazing. I haven’t read a ton of YA sci-fi though it’s definitely a genre I’m branching out into. I really enjoy it. Ender’s Game was amazing, probably one of my favorites. I’m reading Across The Universe right now (I know, I’m late to the party) and it’s so good.

I don’t read sci-fi! I’ve just realized this. Not that I’m not open to it, it just hasn’t happened. I’ve only read one sci-fi book, and it is one of my favorites: The Host by Stephenie Meyer, but it is adult sci-fi.

My favorite YA science fiction novel?? That’s a hard one! L’Engle’s books are classic favorites, of course, but lately, for me, I think it would have to be a tie between the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness (whose book, A Monster Calls, was one of my favorite discoveries of 2012!) and M. T. Anderson’s Feed.

I’m going to join in with several other commenters and say my favorite YA sci-fi is probably Ender’s Game (and Ender’s Shadow which is AMAZING but wouldn’t be the same without having read Ender’s Game first.)

Honestly, I haven’t had much luck with YA sci-fi recently. Most of the books I’ve read in the genre have been a disappointment, but I did quite enjoy Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Anyways, regardless of past misses, I’m always on the lookout for exciting, fresh, new sci-fi stories.

There isn’t really a ton of YA SF, is there? I’m drawing a line here between “Dystopian” and “SF,” which cuts my options considerably. I think I’ll go with Dark Life, by Kat Falls, which while in a dystopian world, and at the bottom of the sea, FEELS like SF.

I HATE “favorite” questions. Because it is so subject to current mood. And guaranteed to make my mind go blank. I’ll think of a perfect answer later. And with the YA questions – I sometimes wonder if what I enjoyed as an actual YA is different from what I enjoy in the YA genre now that I’m an old(er) fart. When I was a teen, I loved Andre Norton. Marion Zimmer Bradley. Alan Nourse, Madeleine L’Engle, Anne McCaffrey (I especially remember her HarperHall books in the Pern series.) My favorite book ABOUT a YA has got the be the first Miles Vorkosigan – “The Warrior’s Apprentice.” Oh yeah, I just remembered an obscure one that I have not heard others talk about, Anabel and Edgar Johnson wrote some sci/fi books, and my favorite of theirs has got to be “An Alien Music.” I still have a library copied I packed up by mistake when I moved cross country years ago. Kind of gives me chills when I hear the news talking about global warming/ climate change/ droughts and floods.

I am one of those people who does not have many favorites because I can’t narrow it down to just a select few. *glares at you* I LOVE ALL OF MY BOOKS.
Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold ranks high up there in my fave SciFi!

I’ve been looking forward to this book for what seems like forever – I am so glad it’s finally on its way! Sci-fi romance is the best kind: you get awesome worlds unknown as well as the happily ever after. Did I say I was excited for this book?! So excited.

As for favorite YA sci-fi novel of all time… it’s a hard choice. Probably a tie between Garth Nix’s Shades Children, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game and Lois Lowry’s The Giver.

This is such a hard question for me! Like some of the other people, the books I read are a cross between science fiction and dystopian and I definitely can’t pick a favorite of all time. I will say that ever since I was 12, I fell in love with all things Madeleine L’Engle.

Oh jeez, that’s always a hard question. I tend to read SciFi that is more Fantasy, but I have to say I really enjoy Madeline L’Engle’s books, and Stephenie Meyer’s The Host. And H.G. Wells’s Time Machine!

i am 100% sure it is impossible to pick one favorite sci fi ya book. so here’s a comprehensive list of all the ones i can think of off the top of my head that i love with a burning passion:
Hunger Games Trilogy
Chaos Walking Trilogy
A long, Long Sleep
This is not a test
The adoration of Jenna Fox
Feed
How I live Now (not sure if it’s sci-fi, but want to cover all my bases…)
Life as we Knew it
The scorpio races

(i’m SURE i’m SOME out and I keep wanting to include all my favorite fantasy….)

Hmm I really loved Across the Universe by Beth Revis, but my favourite of alllll time would ave to be Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl. It was first published in 1970 but it’s SUCH an amazing book and I really can’t recommend it enough! If you can get your hands on it YOU SHOULD!!

It’s tough to pick just one! In recent reads, I loved For Darkness Shows the Stars. Classics wise, I have lots of fond memories of the Foundation Trilogy, which does have a teenage girl as the main character in the last part.

I like Scott Westerfield’s Uglies series as well. I also enjoy other shit, but I don’t remember their names. Oh, wait… Paul McAuley has a nice series called The Quiet War. Yes, that. And if you like M/M romance, Lisa Henry’s Dark Space.

Hmmm…favorite YA scifi? I’ve read a TON of SF, but not much YA, having only really come back to reading YA in the past year or so. So, I’ll pick a recent one and say ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis. It’s the only one in the series I’ve read yet, but I loved it so much I bought books 2 and 3! I love her writing style, that the books are nice and long, and the awesome plot, story, and characters. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it yet. Thanks!

My favorite scifi book would have to be A Million Suns. That book was full of so many plot twists and cliffhangers and mysteries and surprises. It was the best book in the series, and I loved how one character left clues for Amy and Elder to follow.

Geesh, hard question. I would have to say Ender’s Game since I’ve loved it since I was a child. But recently it has been Shades of Earth by Beth Revis, the third book in the Across the Universe trilogy!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

[…] The Book Smugglers: This is all well and good, but what do the authors REALLY think about their cover? The Midnight Garden: Where did the title come from? Pub(lishing) Crawl: Check out this exclusive interview from cover designer Whitney Manger! Mundie Moms: Want to know more about the characters on the cover? Click for more about Lilac! Supernatural Snark: Want to know more about the characters on the cover? Click for more about Tarver! […]

[…] See what the cover COULD have looked like, plus a live interview with Amie and Meg! The Book Smugglers: This is all well and good, but what do the authors REALLY think about their cover? The Midnight […]

sponsors

Search for:

The Book Smugglers

noun
1 : a book review blog specializing in speculative fiction and popgeekery for all ages since 2008.
2 : a digital-first publisher of speculative fiction and nonfiction since 2014.
3 : 2014 Hugo Nominee for Best Fanzine
4 : a duo of awesomely badass book nerds